Empowering Dalits Through Knowledge

Foreword On May 23, 2020, in Nepal's western district of Rukum, a mob of non Dalits lynched six boys while chasing them away to stop a Dalit boy, Navaraj B.K., from marrying his "high-caste" girlfriend. The girl's family learned about their relationship and wanted to stop their daughter from seeing the "lower-caste" boy. They had put pressure on her to marry a "higher-caste" boy. She refused and asked her boyfriend to rescue her. Mr. B.K. went to her village with his 18 friends to bring her to his village for marriage. Witnesses alleged that the police, who were present in the village, did not take adequate action to stop the mob. Similar tragedies have darkened the recent past, as in the case of Ajit Mijar.

Dalits are 14 percent of Nepal's population, but they continue to fall behind on almost every development indicator. In Nepal's House of Representatives, Dalits have only 7 percent representation. Poverty headcount rate for Nepal overall is 25.2 percent, but for Hill Dalits and Tarai Dalits, it is 43.6 percent and 38.3 percent respectively.

**Contents and Sample Pages**